Report on existing HPV prevention programs with focus on HPV vaccination

This document is Deliverable 4.2 (“Report on existing HPV prevention programs”) of the CANCER PREVENTION AT WORK project. It is issued under the responsibility of the Regional Authority of Public Health, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia (RAPH BB) with the contribution of a working group comprising principal investigators and team members from the implementation centers in Slovakia, Italy, and principal investigators from partners in Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic and Spain.

HPV infection is associated with 5 % of all cancers worldwide. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604 000 new cases and 342 000 deaths in 2020. The highest incidence and death rates are in developing countries with low income and socioeconomic level. In the EU, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer after breast cancer to affect women aged 15 – 44. Each year, there are around 33 000 cases of cervical cancer in the EU, and 15 000 deaths. Although the cervical cancer is the most common of these cancers, the virus is also implicated in cancers of the vagina, vulva, anus, penis, head and neck. A significant proportion of the cancers caused by HPV in Europe are in men1.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has a global strategy for the elimination of cervical cancer. This has three main elements: vaccinating at least 90 % of girls, screening 70 % of women, and treating at least 90% of precancerous lesions and invasive cancers. Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, published by the European Commission in 20212, is more ambitious. It contains a ‘flagship’ commitment to gender-neutral HPV vaccination in every WHO member state and aims to eliminate all the cancers caused by HPV.

Therefore, the D4.2 is a public report which aims to summarise, at country level and regional level, the status of HPV prevention in the member states of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA). This report includes a set of indicators on the burden of HPV infections and HPV-related cancers, and the introduction of the HPV vaccine, based on official WHO estimates and existing publicly available datasets. This mapping exercise has enabled us to identify EU/EEA countries that are already taking the necessary steps to tackle those cancers caused by HPV and, even more importantly, the countries that are falling behind. Several countries in Europe still have no HPV vaccination or effective cervical cancer screening programs. Many vaccination programs still do not take a gender-neutral approach. Moreover, a significant number of countries with vaccination and screening programs have sub-optimal levels of service uptake.

The protocol, which has been discussed and agreed with all the WP4 partners, will be submitted for local ethical evaluation. Each partner in its own country will undergo necessary procedures for obtaining the approval by local Ethics Committee.

The intended audience of this deliverable consists of members of the CPW consortium and the European Commission.